You can only be miserable for so long.
You can only hibernate for so long.
You can only cut for so long.
You can only save for so long.

Eventually we need to emerge.
Eventually we need to breathe.
More importantly we need to live.

A recession will end just as a boom will bust.

The trick of good business is to ride those waves.
Take the rough with the smooth, peaks with troughs.

Bad leaders will continue to cut with their new few cents.
Good leaders will instantly invest.

Like a spring shoot, it’s a delicate nurturing to full health.

Already the cutters are cutting too deep.
Investors are spending slowly.

Remember, it’s not your money, it’s theirs.

Keep cutting at your peril.
The market will spot the cheap little tricks and say goodbye.
They will smile at the investment and notice it too.

More importantly, they will say hello to you and your business.

I was asked “What’s important when selling something?”.

Of course there is no ‘magic’ list, rules or definitive list.
There is wisdom though.
Here’s my 10 point take on it.

First you need to be working with a product or service that the market decides they are willing to purchase because – it makes their life/work better.
Second, you have to communicate that – effectively.
Third (and most importantly) you have to ‘understand’ not where you are coming from but – where the customer is coming from.
Fourth, you must do ‘the right thing’ – that’s the truth. That’s trust, that’s integrity.
Five, you must work with their timetable – not yours.
Six, you must deliver ‘exactly what you promise – not more, not less.
Seven, it must be a good deal – for both.
Eight, you must seek feedback – no matter how uncomfortable.
Nine, you must know when to pull back – and avoid being a pest.
Finally, you must love it – or it will show.

The French were pretty good at it in WW2.
They were small, agile, flexible and highly disruptive.
They agitated, ambushed and destabilized a sleek professional enemy.
In many ways, it didn’t make sense.
A very small number who could rock a big boat?

Many companies are big, sleek, professional and shiny.
It’s just the Resistance Movement that still causes mayhem.

The underground secret society can set your march back by months.
Their agenda is instability, disruption and disorder.

But, the Resistance Movement today is about resisting change, ideas and a bright new path.
Resistance is a fear of loss, not just change.

In your organisation, not a bad idea to break the peace and have a war.
The old meaning of Resistance was good.
The new is quite the opposite.
Today’s Resistance can halt an Army.

The old boat was tired.
She was 40 years old.
It could still do the job but it’s future was a little terminal.

The wise sailors gathered to hum and muse.
The prognosis was not great and their business might die.
At best, she had 9 months life in her.

The cheerful young sailor said “that’s great, 9 months of sun and seas”.
The middle aged deck hand saw it differently “9 months life? What’s the problem, that’s light years away”.
Anxious saw it differently again “quick, quick, we need to abandon ship before it sinks”.

The bearded Captain was calm and relaxed.
He had been here before.

“We have 9 months. It’s not the time that counts, it’s how we use it.”
They were a little confused. He added;

“It takes about 6 months to build a new boat. If we start now we will be well inside the 9 months this old ship has left.
In 6 months, carefully using our skill, our money and our time, we will have a new boat that will last another 40 years.”

They understood, they agreed, they started work.

Isn’t it time you audited your ‘old ship’?
Better still, isn’t it time you started to build a new one?

Before you run out of time …!

I ran into a man this week.
He was miserable.
I asked why.
He said “business is not very good”.

He is a nice guy and later that day I checked out his website.
He is a one man band.

I was taken aback.
He is an expert in strategy, sales, training, customer service, marketing, branding, organizational change, finance and more.

Then I understood why this one man tornado was not so busy.
A jack of all trades and master of few.

Today you need to do 3 things;

Be clear about who you are and what you offer.
Communicate it effectively.
Be very good at very little and call in help on all the rest.

It’s not much fun to be so talented and out of work.

Industry often speaks to industry.
Industry can use jargon, way too much jargon.

I was talking to an industry expert.
She poured out abbreviated terminology.
There were ABCs and XYZs.

I was lost.
Then, I was embarrassed.
I didn’t understand.
I felt I ought to.

I smiled that silly kind of ‘pretending I know’ smile but I didn’t.

As I went home I realized that the mistake was not mine but hers.

If I’m talking to an expert it’s probably because I need their expertise.
If the experts expertise is shrouded in jargon I certainly won’t understand.

If you are an expert.
If you are the Marketing Head.
If you are the Salesman.

Make sure you talk to me in a way I understand.
If you don’t, you may well remain an expert.
But I’ll be gone in search of the jargon free guru who knows I don’t know and who understands I’m not an expert.

Great selling makes a decision to buy very easy.
The sale is the last part of a fruitful conversation and the ‘buying’ is just process.

If your mission is to win.
If your mission is profit alone.
If your mission is to dupe, convince or bluff – prepare for short term success.

On the other hand, if you set out to listen.
If you set out to solve a problem.
If you set out to be truthful and honest.
If you set out to help – prepare for a bountiful career.

If urgency guides your strategy – prepare to fail.
If ‘the right thing’ guides your action – hang in for the long haul, you will prevail.

There is no such thing as a good quick sale.
There is such a thing as fooling me once.

This Blog is called ‘Dan’ because, well, Dan is Dan.

I had the pleasure of working with Dan this week at a Workshop.
He oozes that wonderful ability to make complicated seem simple.

We were talking about the market, the mood and the tempest.
Dan had seen it all before.

Here is what he said (with poetic license naturally).

“In a recession more people simply say ‘no’ rather than ‘yes’.
Nothing has changed.
It’s just that the ‘yes’ answers are a little harder to find.
No big deal, they are there, you just have to cut through the ‘nos’ to get to the ‘yes’”

What a wonderful way to inspire a mission.
Then again, we meet wonderful people every day.

Like Dan, you just have to give them a stage.

Some people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

In a world obsessed with money, recession and cutbacks its worth thinking about value versus cutbacks.

Of course it is sensible to cut excess.
Sensible too to cut what was lazy.
Perfect sense to be prudent rather than mean.
Natural to analyze and try to buy better.

But beware.
If you cut too deep you might hit bone.
If you cut too deep you may just change what you are, what you do and who you are.
If you cut too deep you cannot be all that brought you this far.
If you cut too deep you may just cut the one thing that carried you to here.
Your customers and your suppliers.

Knives can be dangerous.
Be careful.

As we journey through life we meet thousands of people.
Few will leave a lasting footprint.
Few will create an impact.
You know who they are.

The few who do have already stood out from the crowd.
Their presence in your life made a difference.
That action, that impact, deserved and earned your respect.

What was that quality?
What did they say?
What did they do?
Why did they inspire you?
Why did you listen?
What was it about them?

Next time you meet someone lost, at a crossroads or needing guidance.
Think about those who got your respect.

Now follow in their footsteps.